A Nice Cup of Tea - Darjeeling

One hour before i get on the train i get a call from my fellow volunteer 'Joel' Sorry i cannot come to Darjeeling i have fallen ill. Im in the car on the way to the station trying to relax and get my head round doing this trip now on my own, their is no turning back now.

This is my first time on 3AC train, which means 3 bunks either side in one berth. Actually this way of travelling is much better as you meet a lot of friendly people, I got to share with a nice family from Siliguri. In the morning i wake up with a head cold and sore throat its either the AC or im being punished for being on holiday!

At NJP Station I spend some time trying to locate a shared Jeep to take me up the hill. Once located i change my mind as there is a dispute going on with some other tourists that have been conned by the Jeep walla. Instead I get an auto to the bus stand to go with the locals in a Jeep, im the last one and get the back seat (boot space) with 3 others. They like to pack you in, in India. Soon I realise my mistake thinking I had done well getting away from the touts an hour into a 3 hour journey I realise the man in front of me is highly intoxicated ? drugs/Alcohol who knows but he has wet his pants and keeps proceeding to fall forward dribbling on my knee. I look out of the window to the sun going down over the hills and cant believe the beautiful view I then turn to the idiot in front of me and growl.


On arrival there was no more bad luck for me. Things got better and better. Above is a picture of my hotel The Dekeling, I was in the attic at the top. It had a lovely room and an amazingly hot shower. The landlady was really nice and made me hot lemon and ginger tea for my cold. I had been on the road for nearly 24hrs so all that was left to do was wash up and head to the pub.

Joey's Pub was a great start to the holiday. Met some friends to chat with, had a pint of kingfisher and moved on to hot toddys as the night proceeded. As you can see we are all wrapped up warm as very cold in the evenings. With my new found friends we planned to meet at Kevengers the next morning for breakfast.

 The views were spectacular and so was the food, a whole plate full of sausages with Darjeeling tea of course.






We planned the day from here first stop observation hill for more views.

Then a visit to the Buddhist temple, the flags represent prayers, the white ones are for those who have died. Then we enjoyed a trip to the Zoo check out this Asian bear playing up for the cameras.

Then onto the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, to see the wonders of those who have climbed Mount Everest, if only!



Nathmulls for tea was the next call as we obviously needed a well earned rest. I sampled the premier white tea in a champagne glass and some rare yellow tea in a cocktail flute.
 We also enjoyed some Momos at Penangs that's chicken/pork steamed dumplings and soup so good.



In the evening i was introduced to uno at Gaffy's open mic cafe.

 This place is not like the rest of India i have seen so far. Its more Nepalese  Its clean, fresh air, no pollution or touts bothering me I could have stayed much longer just to relax.

The next day i was on my own and had been advised to visit the rope way a new cable car in operation over the tea estates with wonderful views of Khangchendzonga.

 On my way back up the hill I met some lovely children who posed for a photo. I then stopped at Happy Valley Tea Estate for a tour and met another traveller Lara.







It was a beautiful set up and enjoyed a stroll around the tea plants.

 Lara then took me in her Jeep to The Tibetan Refugee Centre, saving me a massive walk up the hill which was great. I was shown how they weave carpets, make hats and clothing. I couldnt leave the shop for things to buy.

 Overall a great unexpected day with lots of company, on my last day i trekked up to the peace pagoda and also took a visit to the Botanical Gardens determined to make myself tired for the long journey home.

 I then proceeded to pick up my rucksack and head for my pre booked journey on the Joy Train to ghum. It was very interesting experiencing this journey as the train weaves through the villages and road and even gets stuck in traffic with the cars. From Ghum I got a shared jeep back to the station.

I stopped in Kolkata for a flying visit to Victoria Memorial and a good shop around the markets. Jane another vso volunteer provided me with breakfast and a shower and we caught up for dinner before I caught my train overnight back to Ranchi.

I will have some fond memories of this place it was a wonderful trip.

Birthday waterfalls and Varanasi

Having my birthday in India was a wonderful experience, it was really nice that some of my fellow volunteers could come and stay with me and join in the fun. I'm glad i have made a few Indian friends who could also attend. I was showered with gifts, flowers an amazing butterscotch cake, two new tops, I felt very lucky on the day to know such nice people.

The next day the VSO volunteers and myself headed out with our tour guide Sam for the day to finally see some of the waterfalls Jharkhand is famous for, Dassam falls, Johna falls and Hundru falls. The day was bright and sunny, I had one of my new birthday tops on, we had an A/C vehicle and a picnic packed.

We even got to see a rainbow across the waterfall at Dassam it was so beautiful.










As if this wasn't enough me and my friend Sue then headed off to find out what Varanasi was all about, a Holy city like no other. We took an over night train from Ranchi and arrived early morning. The hotel was as suggested in the lonely planet which was a relief however we had to wait 2 hours before we could access our room. I was a bit grumpy at this after an overnight sleep on a train, but recovered quickly to see what Varanasi had in store for us. Its hectic, dirty, smelly in places and very crowded, but amongst all this you see things you will never see anywhere else. Below is a picture of a man moving the cows away from the crowd just after one got a bit skittish and hurdled into a man taking him off his feet, sorry didn't get that photo! After that though cows were the new danger as packed into alleyways with people trying to find away around them.

To relax we went to the Brown Bread Bakery for some decent food and great coffee, proceeds of this venture went to a charity called learn for life school.

At night from the Dolphin restaurant the view of the boats gathering to view the Puja's taking place.

Ferryboat across River Ganges

Alleyways in varanasi

The best thing about Varanasi is the boat trips on the Ganges we did very well in our negotiations now experts from our time in India and managed 3 tours, one to transport us across the river with the locals, another to bring us down the river after visiting the Ramnagar Fort and Palace and also a dawn exploration to see the burning ghats and morning bathing rituals taking place.

Ramnagar Fort

Hotel Alka

Daily washing and prayers

Washing the hotel sheets

Sunrise on the Ganges

As you can see it was an experience that is hard to put into words. But im very glad I have been and seen such a strange, bewildering, lively and crazy place.